Undocumented workers, are they the problem?

c .

UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS:

ARE THEY THE PROBLEM?

glenn scott- New American Movement Pamphlet

*Special thanks to Marilyn Katz, Estevan T. Flores, Phillip Russell and
Richard Croxdale for comments and criticisms of this article.

cover graphic: Carlos Osorio
photo, back cover: Maria Flores
printing: Red River Women's Press

908-C W. 12th St.

Austin, Texas 78703
cartoons: Ruiz of Mexico

Copies of this pamphlet are available from:

New American Movement National Office

1643 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, 111. 60647
or

Austin NAM

2204 San Gabriel

Austin, Texas 78705
1-10 60<jr each (25<£ extra for mailing)

11-30 55tf " (50* "

31-50 50* " (1.00 "

51 or more 40* " (1.50 "

UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS:

ARE THEY THE PROBLEM?

"I believe aliens to be holding down jobs that
could be held by native-born Americans , therefore I endorse a stren-
uous effort to curtail both legal and illegal entries and to expel
undesirable aliens."

".. .to improve the welfare of wage earners in the
U.S., it is our duty to remove the menace of unfair competition which
exists in the vast number of aliens who have violated our immigration
laws." 6

These quotes sound as though they might be from the AFL-CIO leader-
ship, or Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall or one of the many national
columnists who have been railing about the "illegal alien problem" over
the past year. Actually, these are statements by President Hoover and
the director of INS, Mr. Doak, in 1931.

This "problem", then is not a new one, nor is it always recognized
as "a problem".* A closer look at U.S. history over the last 60 years
reveals that during times of relative prosperity, U.S. business (espe-
cially, but not exclusively agribusiness) , under the banner of "labor
shortage", has eagerly recruited Mexican immigrants as a source of cheap
labor. During hard times, the 'illegal aliens" are almost without fail
discovered as the cause of many of bur nation's ills - from taking OUR
jobs, to spreading diseases. Regardless of the economic climate, the
majority of Mexican immigrants over the last 50 years have lived and
worked in this country under illegal or temporary (non- citizenship) status,
with none of the rights of citizenship accorded the millions of white-
skinned immigrants who have come to this country.

With the growing media hysteria on the "illegal alien problem",
the submission of the Carter Plan on Immigration to Congress, and inten-
sifying harrassment of Chicano and Latino communities all over the country
by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS or La Migra) , it is
imperative that people in the U.S. get a much fuller understanding of
what are and are not the problems with the immigrant worker and our
economy. Only then can we respond to our media ? government officials,
and policy-makers with a re-definition of the "illegal alien problem" and
develop a common plan of action around our problems as we see them.

HISTORY

In the 1920 's restrictions on the immigration of Asians and Eastern
Europeans were introduced, but Mexicans and other Latins were not included.
Not so much, as University of Texas Sociologist Gilberto Cardenas points out
because the U.S. considered the Mexicano our friend, but because the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce and Agricultural interests lobbied heavily for keeping
the "back door" open for the flow of cheap labor that it provided. The
vast majority of this immigration from Mexico was under temporary status,

* According to INS statistics, an estimated 80% of "illegal" immigrants are
Mexican and over 891 of deportations in 1975 were of Mexican people. The
illegal alien problem", then is largely a Mexican alien problem. Thus,
the racist nature of how the "problem" is defined becomes more evident.

in^gfant^OTkers 115 n ° r± ^ tS ° £ citizenshi P accorded to earlier European
With the onslaught of the Great Depression and massive unemployment,
government agencies (particularly INS) and several government spokespeople,
including President Hoover, began zeroing in on the "illegal entry" as
the cause of the high rate of unemployment. Massive redadas or raids of
Mexican communities began. An estimated 1/5 of the people of Mexican
descent were deported. _ After protest made this repression politically
embarrassing, deportations slacked off in 1933, but, not so strangely,
the Great Depression continued. In fact, Growers in Texas in 1936-37
began screaming "labor shortage" and put pressure on the state relief
apency for more laborers to harvest their crops . The state relief

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director replied within hours, calling for offices around the state to
cut their rolls of all able-bodied workers (over 50% were Black and
Mexican) to get them out to the fields. With Texas and the rest of
the nation still registering 20% unemployment and better, it is clear
that the problem was not a shortage of labor, but a shortage of cheap
labor - people desperate enough to work tor the Growers ' starvation
wages .

When many of the men and some of the women joined the service
during World War II, better paying jobs opened up for those who had
been occupying the bottom ot the wage scale - women, Blacks, Mexicans,
and other minorities. Less competition at the bottom, loosened the pressure
that had kept wages down, and Agribusiness once again began demanding
a greater, more reliable (that is, exploitable) source of cheap labor.
In 1942 the Bracero Program was instituted, bringing Mexicanos into the
Southwest for agricultural labor, but once again with temporary status
(that is, no rights of citizenship). Rationalized as a war-time
necessity, the Bracero Program, nonetheless, lasted 22 years.

In 1954 the INS instituted Operation Wetback in response to the
threat of economic recession following the Korean war and in keeping
with the general climate of political repression of the McCarthy era.
One and a half million people of Mexican descent were rounded up and
deported. This was estimated to have been l/7th of the Mexican pop-
ulation in the U.S..

Mechanization of agriculture rapidly increased in the 60' s, largely

in response to growing unionization efforts among farmworkers. Thus,
the labor that had produced the capital that made mechanization possible,
was no longer needed in great numbers. In 1964 an immigration quota
was passed by Congress limiting: Mexican legal immigration to about
70,000 per year. But the demand for cheap labor did not disappear.
Growers continued to actively recruit cheap labor to break union efforts.
In 1966-67, a strike by farmworkers in the Rio Grands Valley was
broken by recruiting Mexicanos from across the border. (Brutal repression
by the Texas Rangers, also had a lot to do with it.) In the urban areas,
the growing fast food industry, garment factories, and the motel-
tourist business all sought cheap labor to avoid higher wage demands
or union efforts by employees.

With the legal door virtually shut, yet the demand for cheap labor
still apparent, the only door open to Mexicans who desperately needed
work was the one marked 'illegal'.

And so the" ".illegal aliens" - the workers without papers - have
come to this country, on their own or ushered in by the vast underground
networks of smugglers (coyotes) , who connect with everybody from union
busting Growers in California to resaurant and construction chains from
Tuscon to Seattle, L.A. to New York.

The Recession of 1974, the continued stagnation of the economy,
high unemployment and inflation, has laid the basis for the latest re-
discovery of the 'illegal alien" as the problem.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS HISTORY?

First, U.S. businesses and corporations have used and are still
using immigrant workers (primarily Mexicanos) to keep wages and workers
down in what is known as the secondary labor market, or the low-waged
non-unionized workforce. The fact that these workers have not been
granted citizenship rights accorded other workers in this country ,_ makes
them even more vulnerable to exploitation than other workers . As illegals
they are sitting ducks for the Border Patrol dragnets and redadas
in Mexicano/Chicano workplaces and neighborhoods . They are less likely
to attempt unionization; less likely to complain of bad checks from emplo-
yers, underpayment, forced kickbacks. Their illegal status denies them
access to health, welfare or social services in case of firing, sickness,
injury or victimization(rape ? burglary, thievery, extortion, assault, etc)

It is no surprise that illegals were escorted by state police onto
Grower property in California during UFW strikes. It is no surprise that
President Carter allowed 800 undocumented workers to enter the fields
of Presidio, Texas this summer to harvest a Grower's onion crop - at ,.
below minimum wage. It is also no surprise that Agribusiness interests
are lobbying in Texas and at the national level for an amendment to
Carter's Immigration Plan exempting agricultural and domestic labor from
immigration policies. Business arid corporations in a capitalist
society will continue to use legal or illegal means to get cheap labor -
both to keep profits up and to keep workers from organizing.,^.

A second factor in this history is racism. Racial divisions m
the U.S. workforce - whites on the upper end of the wage scale and a
majority of Blacks, Mexicanos, and other minorities on the bottom -
have historically made it possible to exploit minorities to a greater
degree (they get the heaviest, dirtiest, most dangerous work for the
worst pay) and to keep both white and minorities down. When you think
your worst enemy is a Black or Mexican worker, then the boss (and the
system that gives the boss all the shortcuts) gets off clean.

Also, this racism is not just out there, but m the heads of many
white people. These attitudes are partly responsible for the scapegoating
of minorities for the problems of our society - unemployment, crime,
competition for jobs, etc. After World War I the American Federation
of Labor, rather than focus on their past actions refusing admittance
to Blacks or on the racial divisions in the workforce, turned on Blacks
as the main obstacle to unionizing efforts. Today, many in the AFL-CIO
leadership see the competition from the undocumented workers as the
MAIN obstacle to lowering unemployment and increasing wages .

A third factor is the growth' of the INS as a para-military force
directed against one people - the Qiicano/Mexicano/Latino population in
the U.S. Similar to other military forces, La MLgra is secretive, making
authentic documentation of their activities difficult to obtain. The
leadership is largely military trained, with two commissioners and the
former INS chief being generals. La Migra also uses advanced military
equipment, developed for use against the Vietnamese people. Dragnets
and raids are frequently coordinated with other undercover and military
forces. Operation Wetback in 1954 was a coordinated effort by the INS,
the U.S. Navy, FBI, local police, state police.

U.S. ROLE IN MEXICO

An area not examined in the brief history of U.S. immigration
policy ? but one that is crucial for understanding the structure of im-
migration and its effects on our economy, is Mexico.

There is no doubt that Mexican illegal immigration, as it is de-
fined, has been increasing rapidly in the last few years. Deportations,
which are estimated by INS to be roughly 1/3 of immigration, have
increased rapidly. In 1966, La Migra deported 134,000 people and in
1976 deported 794,000 - over a 500? increase. We don't have to wait
for a meeting of Carter's Council of Economic Advisors to leam the
cause of the increase, either. The recession we have suffered in the U.S.
has hit economies - such as Mexico - that are dependent on ours much

there is now 40-50% unemployment and underemployment in _ Mexico
City. There are also long term characteristics of U.S. foreign
relations that sew up the dependency on the U.S. of "developing nations
like Mexico(see Samir Amin's arilcle in Monthly R eview, v. 29 #3 and
Philip Russell's new book Mexico in Transition. (Colorado River Press, Austin)
U.S. investment in Mexico and other underdeveloped countries has been
geared to: 1) establishing a favorable climate for U.S. multi-national
corporations, resulting m capital-intensive rather than labor (job J
intensive industrv; 2) propping up a privileged minority to buy
'stability' for l£S. investment, which develops production of luxury
goods for a middle class as opposed to mass consumption goods for the
majority; and 3) blocking the development of self-reliant industry
and agriculture. For increasing numbers of the poor and working
population in Mexico the only alternative to hopeless poyerty(aside
from rebellion) is to risk the dehumanization, possible imprisonment or

rtation which will face them as an "illegal* worker in the IJ.S.* ^

This

; and
situation.

deportation which will face them as an "illegal* worker in the U.S.*

This imperialist foreign policy by the U.S. must be seen for what
it is and for how it is intimately linked to the U.S. -Mexico immigration!

EFFECTS OF IMMIGRATION ON THE U.S. WORKFORCE

Increased immigration from Mexico is having an impact on the U.S.
workforce, but not in the way media and union officials and others have
often claimed. A study done for the U.S. Labor Department in 1975 stated
that the average wage for undocumented workers was $2.71, and that 61%
of people of Mexican descent in the Southwest (where the majority of undoc-
umented people live and work) average a wage of $1.71. The vast majority
of undocumented workers work at or below minimum wage, at jobs that most
Americans (mostly white) would not take because of hard, physical labor,
long hours, and dirty dangerous work. In the film "The Unwanted", a res-
taurant owner argues quite seriously that he has never found better workers
than "illegals". "You can't get Americans to wash dishes anymore
They just think they are too good." Aside from the enraging fact that
the owner has probably never had to wash dishes for $1.50 an hour with
no hope of advancement, there is d efinitely something else going on.

*It is no secret among U.S. policymakers that the undocumented workers is
one of the few escape valves that Mexico presently has to stave off a major
social upheaval.

^rican citizens at *e bottom of *»-g*SS g^gg* ^f

wages for the shit jobs they do, or else tney are ix* re fponse to

that kind of crushing work ^^^f^gugh MxSg undocumented people,
this employers are seeking cheaper labor gJ°J|5 e ™ k | t are minority

i^ t £ n S3?S£ ?ha? ingoing on bSweS those Americans that
^^^S^^^J^ST^^ --rbeSS/mSst

and other minority workers and. the ^ d °£umentea. ^ ± ^ f ^e
is pitting Chicano against Mexicano. T ^t^o urenc^, ^ trying to or-

SO WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?
docmented workers, we can remove this competition at the botton,

If I Si fontfnue Sdlftensiffthe / ? r«tio| of ^-police state
against Chicano and Mexi canopeogle^n tte U^^s^ght. g

^l^^^llr^^t^f^Zt ?Sor: m anl ™less
working for less. Corporations will still demand ^cneap ,

sXlf/to^^ "J**"?® ^Jf

w^rgrs 3 " 1 twill wf aloS b^K»K, <*«». and other
Xority workers for keeping wages Sown?

The solution, then is not to eliminate the most exploited sectortf
the workforce inU« {tagj ^.^\£*2&5$* so^body else

SI if have'toIkE! in ^e <£,?£ S ^Mt^agtaeW'
join hands with the people current^ m the ^J™'^ of ^ „„
of businesses and corporations to divid^usup^i o^ ^^

Une! an emanation o?the ctraS vfanaS low it doesn't solve the

problem wll be given.

THE CARTER PLAN

h w -rH<;rnverv of the "illegc

lm-

Following on the heels of ^ ref nt ^^scovery ofti^lgg*
alien problem^. President Carter finally ^Xbly vote on the plan and

^^"SS^^^^^^ ™ ^ Plan ' ^ ^ P ° mt
has five major components:

lj amnesty (citizenship) for all those who can prove continuous residency

before Jan 1, 19 70 (including the right to bring immediate family to this

country, right to all social services accorded other citizens)

2) Five year work permits for those who can prove residency between Jan 1,

1970 and Jan 1, 1977(no rights to welfare, social security or social

services) . After the 5 year period it is possible to apply for citizenship

3) civil fines for employers who can be proven to have hired undocumented

workers ($1000per worker) and court action against those who "engage in

a pattern or practice of hiring undocumented workers,"

41 undocumented workers arriving after Jan 1, 1977 shall be deported if caught

5) an increase in the Border Patrol by at least 2,000. " __.

PROBLEMS WITH THE CARTER PLAN

Some people have said that the good thing about the Carter Plan is
what it doesn* t call for. Thank goodness, they say, it doesn't call for
immediate mass deportations of all undocumented workers in this country.
Thank goodness, they say ? it doesn't call for an electrified fence from
Brownsville to Tijuana with a 50 foot mine belt on either side.

Thank goodness? When the cops bust into your house on a misinformed
tip and without a warrant, break your furniture beat up your son, ter-
rorize your daughter, would you say, "Well, thank goodness they didn't
burn my house down,?" We don't stop injustice by being grateful for
not having to deal with a greater injustice. We stop injustice by

stopping injustic e .
so with the

"Carter Plan. The plan offers amnesty to an estimated
3% of undocumented workers in this country \ re-establishes a Bracero
(brown skin) worker in this country with limited legal rights ; and
continues to label Mexican immigration after Jan 1, 1977 "illegal",
meaning no rights and deportation if detected; and offers increased
Migra KarrassEjent and surveillance of Mexicano, Chicano and other Latino
peoples in the U.S.

Most of all, the plan IN NO WAY directly confronts the three key
aspects that have created the increased flow of immigration: 1) the
right of employers in the low wage market to hire workers for less,
2) the U.S. role in the maintenance of poverty for the great majority
of people in Mexico, and 3) the consistent pattern of discrimination
against minority workers in the U.S. workforce.

In fact, the Carter Plan maintains all the divisions we already
have and even adds on a few more. One of the more insidious aspects to
the Carter Plan is it's strategic thrust toward dividing the exploited
immigrants against themselves, Carter seems to be bent on winning the
General Patton award for divide and conquer tactics. In response to
demands for amnesty for all and the right to social services accorded

citizen .^f-^^^^^^Tltre^f^fsnX^
k^Tesl-of^tt^foff^ wno^frc^an 1, 1?77

- d b Kf kilts no?]^ idea. Cg£r fa^&ES^Sfp.

these tales of woe, used the sane scneme ™ ge -educated draft

when he bestowed amnesty on the largely wni re co ■ 1 * Xiaxit y and poor
dodgers , but maintained punishment for tne largely i^iux y r

white deserters.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

A co^on program of action «t j-ggg^g S^W*
of the three key aspects structuring wuuia|a«*^ consistent pattern

^^c??Satfcns^Z^ K^ !%?§. role in'the
-^TSe^SScS d »t to work for less, w^rank „d
file members of' unions and as supporters ottne measures that

SSfSSeSSK the wolk^hfe/his W. Organize for better
"ages and working conditions. This would mean:

11 much more . energetic campaigns ^ jrganize tte unorganised,,
2)demand stricter enfcrceKnt of minira wag i«» increase of

increases with inflation. (Carter s "an c ^veral thousand staff of INS.
SI rtSir^pSo?^ ^lorcem^ MS, wage, the entire dynamics

° 3j r^^^mt^fJXi^S^ss and brine
fl^orLrfnatfri^erthe &1 withVialVovisions enabling

brown skin - those enters . law-abiding enough to ^^f ^ tlnue
^Tr v et%r ?£l\T r l bigg-Ss me f ans P a bigger police Stat
against br^-skimed^o P leinJhe US tough with labor law reform
with ^eafor 1 ^ 'to WoJ/Laws » g th bringing ^rmworke^under tAe^

NLRB and with organizing ^ e . ^gani^ct . attitudes. Only now. when
full of weakness and compromise^ racist^tti^o^ nt jj ^

the economy moves into a long J°^3S<; aS austerity, with the Mexi
screaming for workers to accept cutbacks ^f^Yaiion no choice
economy m a crisis which gives some zu» ot ^P^q look at its

b dwindl°rSe i M fSS Cfcd^wfcil^th^:
iSrd S &^?" P *S,t™e racist,^ itwlll
SSte more problems than it will solve.

Mary of the ™^j£*£&*^^f^^%3s£ce

should be added: . , . pmn -| nvment and universities

z] ^reT^Sif by^SnToTtrSniS oS^f organizers and devel-
8 oping bilingual materials-

Mexican

\S*£ DEMAND THRT

THE ItWtGKflT/t»

*** * W^tw

To combat the racist aspects o£ Carter's plan, the AF1-CI0 propo-
sals and others, demands must be made for:

1) General amnesty - meaning the rights of citizen workers must be extended
to all immigrant workers. Workers, particularly minority workers who are
already stepped on the mosr,: should not have the additional handicap of beim
illegal. If they do not warrant the same rights, as other citizens who work
and live, in this country, then they should not have to pay taxes.

2) Counteract the often racist propaganda that lmmigranc worKers laxe ad-
vantage of our social services in the U.S., preventing needy U.S. citi-
zens from access. A recent study in California has shown that only a
tiny minority of undocumented workers use welfare, social services or
foodstamps, because they fear detection. Yet almost all those with jobs,
except those with unscrupulous employers, were paying taxes

3) oppose any increase in INS funding. The cost of maintaining the INS
already costs working people many times more the most generous estimate of
the"drain"' undocumented workers make on social services (services they
have worked for and have a right' to) .

4) develop better channels of information and support with Chicano/
Mexicano communities in order to expose the harrassment by INS in these
areas. In part because of public exposure and organized protest, city
officials of Moline ? Illinois had to publicly apologize on Friday, Sept.

9, 1977 to the Spanish community, as well as pay $2,000 in damages for
"a series of improper raids in an attempt to find illegal aliens." A
small but significant victory,

5) Working in unions and in supporting union efforts, call for organizing
undocumented personsjinto the union. An SEIU local m Boston recently de-
nounced an INS raid made on a hospital where they were having a union drive.
They saw it for what it was - a union busting tactic. Because of their
public criticisms and defense of workers at deportation hearings, the
union was able to win over many more minority workers -legal and illegal.
6) STOP USING THE TERM ILLEGAL ALIEN. They are workers like you and I?

October, 1977

Glenn Scott, member of
New American Movement and
coordinator of NAM'S National
Racism Commission

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